Rare Pink Diamond Returns to Display 100 Years After Audacious Heist

A rare nine-carat, pear-shaped pink diamond known as the "Grand Condé" is on public display in France for the first time since it was stolen nearly a century ago. The gemstone was pilfered from the Château de Chantilly in October 1926 and subsequently hidden inside a hollowed-out apple, according to museum records.

The diamond, one of the few royal jewels to survive the French Revolution, was recovered just weeks later when a hotel maid discovered and bit into the apple, revealing the hidden gem. This historical theft and recovery is now part of a new exhibition at the Condé Museum within the Château de Chantilly, located north of Paris.

Mathieu Deldicque, the museum's director, confirmed that the tale of the apple, while seemingly improbable, was extensively reported by newspapers at the time. The exhibition not only showcases the "Grand Condé" but also features detailed academic studies on the diamond's unique properties, which aid in its identification, along with previously unpublished archival materials related to its history and the 1926 theft.

The exhibition will run until January 3. Deldicque acknowledged concerns about the exhibition potentially tempting fate, especially in light of recent high-profile heists targeting cultural institutions across Europe, including a daylight jewelry robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris. He declined to disclose the diamond's insured value but emphasized the extensive scientific analysis conducted to ensure its distinct recognizability.

Naturally occurring pink diamonds are exceptionally rare, with some fetching tens of millions of dollars at auction. In 2017, a pink diamond sold for $71.2 million, setting a record price. The exact origins of the "Grand Condé" remain unclear, though it was first documented in 1740 in an inventory following the death of Louis Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Condé. It later became part of the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie of Bourbon-Sicily, wife of King Louis Philippe I, and subsequently passed to her son, Prince Henri of Orléans, the Duke of Aumale. He bequeathed the diamond to the Institut de France, the current owner of the Château de Chantilly and its extensive art collection.